Philosophy must mirror coach, star

ETHAN J. SKOLNICK COMMENTARY

It's Riley's job to budge O'Neal

Riley did not commit to returning as the Heat coach Wednesday. He committed only to a return to the hard, old Heat way, the way of responsibility and accountability.

Which way?

"Mine," Riley said.

So, if that's the culture he wants, that's whose responsibility it is to compel the change:

His.

Just as Riley realized the mistake of attempting to meet his listless players halfway, he should recognize it would be equally foolish to take the halfway approach to the re-indoctrination process.

He must coach the team next season.

He must serve as the bridge to the next Heat era, smoothing the transition of primary influence from a slipping superstar to an ascendant one, helping to make this Dwyane Wade's team on and off the court. He must adjust the overall attitude sufficiently that someone like Erik Spoelstra (a Wade favorite) would have a fair shot upon someday taking control. He must create the conditions that convince Wade to stay a Heat player for life.

He must coach, even though he has sometimes enjoyed better success as a personnel evaluator when not simultaneously serving on the sidelines, and even if the thought of the grind makes him queasy.

The formidable presence of Shaquille O'Neal leaves him little choice.

Riley must coach.

His only other choice is to trade O'Neal, and that's not happening. While no longer an irresistible force, O'Neal represents an immovable object, due to age, salary and a short list of acceptable landing spots. New York? Maybe, to fill the Garden again. Dallas? Only if Mark Cuban got irrationally desperate after a first-round exit.

So O'Neal stays. The Heat has experienced the perks of Diesel power. O'Neal energized the fan base while occupying sufficient attention to free Wade to emerge. Yet as O'Neal starts to run (or jog) on fumes, he stands as an impediment as much as an asset.

He is an impediment stylistically, as he ages and the Heat tries to compete with more athletic, free-flowing opponents. He is an impediment transitionally, his presence preventing Wade from taking total control of this environment. He is an attitudinal impediment most of all.

It's no secret who sets the corrosive flip-the-switch tone.

"He admitted to me, `Coach, you came halfway, I agree, and we didn't come and meet you,"' Riley said. "And he said `we."'

If Riley plans to fulfill his promise to monitor attitude more closely this season, the prime surveillance spot is neither a house in Malibu nor an office in Miami. It's the practice floor, locker room and sideline.

Riley still has the best chance of any coach to reach O'Neal. He understands O'Neal's obsession with legacy, speaking Wednesday about how O'Neal "wants to go out favorably," and relating that O'Neal was "very depressed" about the sweep.

"But he also knows that his influence on his teammates and the fact that he wants to end his career illuminated, then he's going to have to lead by real example," Riley said.

That, to Riley, isn't about big numbers. It is about supporting the coach, doing the work, setting the tone, with body language as well as words, from the bus to the court.

"Shaq's good at this," Riley said. "He lifts players up. But the leadership is going to have to be strong."

Leadership also entails knowing when to let another lead.

Making O'Neal understand that will require Riley's strong leadership. Riley must do the delicate work of steering this team toward Wade, who is more pliable and, when healthy, more physically capable to respond to the challenge.

Riley said Wednesday that Wade was "hurting" emotionally and didn't like the way the season ended. Expect Wade to return inspired.

Few observers liked the way this Heat team handled itself from start to finish. Remember, after Stan Van Gundy's 2004-05 squad fell a game short of the Finals, Riley also spoke of the need to instill more of the old Heat culture. And that Van Gundy team embodied the correct culture far more than this last Riley one did. After allowing the culture to corrode on his watch, Riley is responsible for doing the hard, hands-on repair work.